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The accounting profession hasn't gotten to where it is by resting on its laurels. For years, the Big Five firms have known that it is less expensive and more efficient to have lawyers on staff rather than engage lawyers outside the firm.Now, someone has actually counted the numbers and the Big Five wins!

If you were not among the several hundred attendees at the recent AICPA/ITA Tech2000 conference in Atlanta, but are still interested in the presentations, today is your lucky day!With the kind permission of AICPA's Andrea Carella, who did a terrific job as coordinator of the conference, AccountingWEB members can now access all the available PowerPoint presentations from the conference on-line.Simply point your browser to www.aicpa.org/tech2000 and when prompted use the Username "Tech2000" and the password "AICPA" (both are case-se

A new study reveals how activity-based costing (ABC) can be applied to a single department of a major institution of higher education to manage systems more effectively.The study was funded by The PricewaterhouseCoopers Endowment for The Business of Government, and is called 'Using Activity-Based Costing to Manage More Effectively.' Authors are Professor Michael H. Granof, Assistant Professor David E.

New legislation signed by President Clinton now allows all workers to receive stock options from employers. The new law ensures that hourly workers can now receive similar stock option benefits that salaried employees have enjoyed for years.Earlier this year, an advisory letter released by the Labor Department threatened to force employers to count stock options toward the overtime compensation levels of hourly employees.

Who could have foreseen what a revolution email would be?A new survey from Accountemps found that an overwhelming 73 percent of CFOs prefer to communicate with accountants by email. Telephone as a preferred media came in at 10 percent, while fax totaled nine percent.Accountemps surveyed 1,400 CFOs from companies with 20 or more employees.

If you think it’s hard trying to find a good accountant, consider what it takes to find people to fill jobs that most only see in movies. That’s the situation that prompted the Pentagon to team up with Yahoo! to boost recruitment.Five winners of the fantasy career contest will have a chance to fly a fighter jet, steer a 90,000-ton aircraft carrier, or fly off for four, expense-paid days at Marine basic training camp. The contest runs from Saturday, May 20, the 50th anniversary or Armed Forces Day, through July 4, 2000.

Republicans and democrats unite! Or at least, join forces to repeal the inheritance taxes that require Americans to pay estate taxes on over $675,000 in assets. In the past, Republicans have spearheaded this effort with little support from their Democrat counterparts, but that’s changing. Supporters now include Republicans and Democrats alike. “There is broad support for this bill,” said Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash.

A new survey from the Financial Executives Institute (FEI) finds that an overwhelming 85 percent of respondents say their auditors also provide 'non-attest consulting services.'Respondents claim the reason why this is so high is that they want the freedom to choose consultants, and rely on firms that already provide value to their company through services like audit.More than 60 percent also said that their auditors prepare or review tax returns apart from any tax accrual audit work.The survey was released to coincide with SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt's

A variant on the LoveBug virus has been detected by a leading antivirus software house, Symantec. The VBS.NewLove.A is a worm, and spreads by sending itself to all addresses in the Outlook address book when it is activated.

Following the Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation last year of independence issues at PricewaterhouseCoopers, the SEC vowed to investigate other Big 5 firms to ensure independence is not sacrificed.Now, however, lack of funding of the Public Oversight Board (POB) by the AICPA may jeopardize that investigation, and the SEC is not pleased.

Ric PayneCEO Worldwide OperationsResults Accountants SystemsRichard Payne is CEO, Worldwide Operations of Results Accountants' Systems, a company he jointly founded with Paul Dunn in 1992. Prior to the formation of Results Accountants' Systems Mr. Payne was a Partner in the firm of Rutherfords, one of the largest and most successful accounting practices in New South Wales, Australia.

Stuff happens. Networks crash. But what is the cost to your organization when that happens? The REAL answer might surprise you. A good disaster recovery planning website www.drplanning.org offers a link to a Network Downtime Cost Calculator where you can calculate both direct and indirect costs of a network failure. IT specialists - you may want to run this calculator to help justify increases in the technology budget for the firm.

Everyone knows that there are thousands of web sites available to today's business person designed to help them do their job more efficiently and effectively.We thought it would be interesting to invite the AccountingWEB community to share the top three web sites that you use on a regular basis in your business so we can compile a list of the Best of the Best so everyone can benefit.Scroll down this page to view some of the responses we are receiving from community members.

Sallie Mae, the nation's largest provider of student loans, and Kaplan, the leader in test preparation for graduate and professional schools, have announced the Kaplan Student Loan Program providing low-interest loans to eligible students wishing to take a test-prep course.The program allows any Kaplan student who is a US citizen or a permanent resident with a social security number to be eligible for the program."This program opens doors to students who might not otherwise be able to afford test prep," said John Polstein, president of Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions.

Cap Gemini today received the approval of the European Commission to purchase Ernst & Young's Ernst & Young's Global Consulting and IT activities.While analysts previously have predicted that this step moves the European giant one step further in strengthening its consulting services across Europe, the Commission disagreed.Instead, the Commission stated that technological innovations will become more important than who actually 'owns' the business, and that the market will remain fragmented because innovations are hap

The competition is breathing down your neck, your clients seem happy, but are they? In the age of quality service, there’s one question you should be asking to ensure you are on the same page with your clients.

Implementing the VAT (value-added tax) in many countries across the world is a no-brainer in most arenas. However, in Lebanon, where the VAT begins in about eight months, the government may not be ready to face the VAT's reality in actually collecting the tax.Why? Reports state that the government in Lebanon has had a hard time implementing income and property taxes.

Tenneco Automotive has engaged Andersen Consulting's Automotive, Industrial and Transportation group to provide consulting services to design and build a new customer service Web site.The site is designed to provide after-market sales and service to customers seeking industrial automotive equipment, such as ride control, and exhaust systems' products.Putting the power of the Internet in their hands, customers can order and track any orders placed at the Tenneco site.